Danes love a good vittighed (joke) – especially about themselves… 🙂 Like in other countries, people i byerne (in the cities) make fun of people på landet (in the countryside) – and the other way around, I can assure you! 🙂 As you’re probably aware, in Denmark there’s a constant West vs. East ”mockery battle” going on between the Jylland (Jutland) peninsula and the capital København (Copenhagen). It’s maybe not so strange, then, that jokes about the people of Jutland’s ”capital” – Århus – have been really popular throughout the country (of course also among the århusianere themselves!) Here are a few ”århushistorier” (Århus stories); feel free to add your own favourites in the comments section! 🙂

Compared to Copenhageners, people from Århus speak in a slower and less ”singsong” way – maybe that’s why they have always been popular in jokes? Photo from Den Gamle By/The Old Town in Århus. (Courtesy of Erik Cleves Kristensen at Flickr, CC License.)

– Hvorfor tager århusianerne en bildør med ud i ørkenen? (Why are the Aarhusians bringing a car door to the desert?)– Så kan de rulle vinduet ned når det bliver for varmt! (Then they can roll down the window when it gets too hot!)– Hvorfor tager de så to bildøre med ud i ørkenen? (But why do they bring two car doors to the desert?)– Så kan de rulle begge vinduer ned og få gennemtræk! (Then they can roll down both windows and get a draught!)

I was born in Denmark, but spent large parts of my childhood and study years in Norway. I later returned to Denmark, where I finished my MA in Scandinavian Studies. Having relatives in Sweden as well, I feel very Scandinavian! I enjoy reading and travelling, and sharing stories with you! You’re always welcome to share your thoughts with me and the other readers.

@Kevin @Kevin
Thanks for pointing this out! 🙂 English is not my native language, so sometimes errors do pop up… I’ll fix it ASAP. The Danish phrase, however, is correct… ”at lyne” is a verb rather than a noun (which is ”lyn”), and often when describing the weather the verb is indeed used…